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64th Congress \ 
2d Session J 



SENATE 



Document 
No. 725 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN TWO 
WORLD WARS 



AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND 
EIGHTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF GEORGE WASH- 
INGTON, UNDER THE AUSPICIES OF THE SONS OF THE REVO- 
LUTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. NATIONAL SOCIETY OF 
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. AND THE 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMER- 
ICAN REVOLUTION. IN MEMORIAL CONTINENTAL HALL. 
WASHINGTON. D. C. ON FEBRUARY 22. 1917 

By 
HON. ATLEE POMERENE 

UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM OHIO 




P^J /L %JP^t^ 



PRESENTED BY MR. HOLLIS 
February 26. 1917.— Ordered to be printed 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFHCE 

I9I7 






D. of D. 
MAY 22 1917 



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AMERICA'S POSITION IN T¥/0 WORLD WARS. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen: 

No more fitting place could be chosen in which to hold these cere- 
monies than this beautiful temple erected by the . Daughters of the 
American Revolution. No more appropriate day could be selected 
than this natal day of the Father of our Country. If there ever was 
a time when the American people should pay tribute to his name, this 
is the hour. Let us take counsel of his wisdom. 

The time in which he lived and wrought is not unlike the period 
through which we are passing. 

No man loved peace more than he, and 3^et his political philosophy 
taught him that the best way to preserve the peace was to be prepared 
for war. No one could conceive that the great Washington would 
ever resort to arms for any purpose of aggression, or with intent to 
injure any living soul, unless it was necessary to protect our beloved 
country. and our citizenship. 

Much has recently been said about the dangers of militarism and 
the necessity of avoiding entangling alliances with foreign countries. 
What was said by Washington on these subjects is as true to-day as 
it was during his lifetime, but Washington was not a "peace at any 
price" man. He took counsel of his reason and not of his dreams. 
He loved peace, but he was not averse to war when it became neces- 
sary either for our national defense or the preservation of our national 
honor. He fought and won for the Colonies the Revolutionary War. 
No one has recorded that he ever uttered a word of regret for the 
part he took in that great war — the result of which was the greatest 
and the best Government the world has ever seen, though he did 
regret the necessity of resorting to arms to bring about a settlement 
of our disputes with the mother country. 

As one of the fathers of the Constitution, he provided for both an 
Army and a Navy. No one ever accused him of wanting to use it for 
purposes of aggression, and with rare exceptions there has never been 
anyone in authority, living or dead, who would have been willing 
to use either the Army or the Navy, or both, for the purpose of carry- 
ing on such a war. They were always intended for the national 
defense. 

Congress was given the power to collect taxes for the common 
defense, to declare war, to raise and support armies, and to provide 
and maintain a Navy. This was not done by the fathers because 
they hoped to use these instruments of war, but taking counsel of 
their experiences, they realized that it might some time in the history 
of the country be necessary to protect ourselves against aggressions 
from without or troubles from within our borders. 



4 AMERICA S POSITION IX TWO WOKLD WAES. 

Wasliingtou said with reference to our foreign affairs : 

The distiirl)od situation of lMiro])e, and particularly the critical posture of the great 
maritime powers, whilst it ought to make us the more thankful for the general peace 
and security enjoyed by the United States, reminds us at the same time of the circum- 
spection with wliich it heconies us to preserve these blessings. It requires also that 
we shoidd not ov(>r!ook the tendency of a war, and even of preparation for a war among 
the nations most concerned in active commerce with this coimtry. 

In his eighth annual address, on December 7, 1796, in discussing 
the subject of neutrahty, he used, in part, these words: 

It is our 0W71 experience that most sincere neutrality is not a sufficient guard against 
the depredations of nations at war. To secure respect to a neutral flag requires a 
naval force organized and ready to vindicate it from all insult and aggression. This 
may even prevent the necessity of going to war by discouraging belligerent powers 
from committing such violations of the rights of the neutral party as may first or last 
leave no other option. * * * These considerations invite the United States to 
look to the means and to set about the gradual creation of a navy. 

At the same time, while discussing the institution of a mihtary 
academy, he said: 

However pacific the general policy of a nation may be, it ought never to be without 
an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergency. The first would impair the 
energy of its character and laoth woidd hazard its safety or expose it to greater evils 
when war could not be avoided; besides that, war might often not depend on its own 
choice. In proportion as the oliservance of pacific maxims might exempt a nation 
from the necessity of practicing the rules of the military art ought to be its care in 
preserving and transmitting, by proper establishments, the knowledge of this art. 

In his Farewell Address, he said : 

Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very remote rela- 
tion. Hence, she must he engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are 
essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence therefore, it must be unwise in us to 
implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the 
ordinary combinations and collisions of lier friendships or enmities. Our detached 
situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. 

And later in his message he said : 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the 
foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it. 

Washington always advised good faith and justice toward all na- 
tions and urged our people to cultivate peace and harmony with all. 

But while he was thus wedded to peace, the excerpts just quoted 
from his addresses showed his knowledge of world conditions, his faith 
in armies and navies, and their necessity for our national safety. 

During the latter part of Washington's term and the early part 
of President Adams's, we became involved in serious difficulties at 
different times with Great Britain and the French Republic, growing 
out of the seizure by their cruisers of American merchantmen. 
These aggressions against our rights at sea were so numerous and so 
flagrant that our country feared we might become involved in war. 
Washington had retired to private life in his beloved Mount Vernon. 
The situation became so grave that President Adams called him 
from his home and placed him at the head of the armies of the 
Republic. Our commerce had been seriously interfered with by 
the French, but our territory had not been invaded. When the 
call came from President Adams, Washington replied : 

In case of actual invasion by formidable forces, I certainly should not intrench 
myself under cover of age and retirement if my service should be required "by my 
country to assist in repelling it. 



AMERICANS POSITION IN TWO WOELD WAES. 5 

I allude to this international situation only to show that in the 
mnid of the great Washington the interference with our commerce 
on the high seas was a sufficient cause for preparation against depre- 
dation. It was not necessary in his mind that we should wait until 
the enemy was at our door until we should begin to prepare against 
the fateful day when hostile foot might be set upon our shores. War 
was never declared against P>ance, but we did suspend commercial 
intercourse, authorized the arming of merchantmen, and sent forth 
the ships of our Navy to capture French armed vessels upon the 
hi^h seas. 

In order that we may comprehend the real situation as it appeared 
to Washington, we must remember that we were then a small Nation 
of perhaps 5,000,000 souls. We were 30 days and more from the 
European Continent. Tlie wide expanse of the sea, with the slow 
methods of travel, constituted a very strong barrier between our- 
selves and any possible foe. Our commerce then, exports and im- 
ports, amounted to approximately $161,000,000 annually. At that 
time we Imew neither the telegraph, the telephone, the wireless, the 
railroad engine, or the steam vessel. The armaments of the present 
day were never dreamed of. The flying machine and the submarine 
had not occurred to the most vivid imagination. Yet during these 
early periods of our national existence our commerce was of such 
importance that it was deemed vital to declare and protect our 
rights at sea. And while Washington advised against "permanent 
alliances with any portion of the foreign world," our relations with 
other nations were so involved that he did not hesitate to qualify 
his words by adding, ''so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it." 
How different our situation now. The 5,000,000 of Americans has 
increased to almost 110,000,000. Instead of a comparatively narrow 
expanse of territory along the Atlantic shore, we now extend from 
ocean to ocean, to say nothing of our island possessions. Instead of a 
foreign trade of $161,000,000 annually, it has reached the stupendous 
amount of nearly $6,000,000,000 or more. The 30 days' trip to 
Europe has been reduced to 6. We are a world power whether we 
will it or not. 

Thousands of Americans go to the four corners of the earth annu- 
ally, instead of the comparatively few who ventured abroad in the 
days of the early Repubhc. Our commerce is world-wide. No 
serious differences can occur between any two foreign nations which 
does not gravely affect our people and our industries. Foreigners of a 
hundred years and more ago are neighbors to-day. The seas are the 
highways of commerce. Tlie welfare of our people requires that every 
port of entry should be open to our vessels every day in the year. 

If it were important in the latter part of the eighteenth century 
that our commerce should enjoy the freedom of the seas, it is 
vastly more so now. If it were an offense against the rights of our 
people for a British or French cruiser to seize our merchantmen in 
the days of W^ashington and Adams, it must be now more repugnant 
to our American ideals to have our commerce forbidden certain 
sections of the sea, to have them declared war zones, to threatea to 
sink and to sink our vessels without warning and without caring for 
crew or passengers. If George Washington believed that the wetfare 
of the country required that he should come forth from his retire- 
ment in his old days to take command of our armies in order to 



6 AMERICA S POSITION IN TWO WORLD WARS. 

defend the ri<j;hts of Americans upon the high seas in 1797 and 1798, 
what woidd he do now when all the world is aflame, when Christian 
civilization is in arms, when the rights of neutrals are ignored and 
trampled upon, when Americans are guilty of no ofTense save the 
exercise of their privileges upon the high seas ? Would he not have 
felt justified, as President Wilson did, in tendering his good offices to 
bring peace to humanity — aye, even in suggesting a league of peace 
to reduce to a minimum the causes of war? Would he leave our 
shores in a state of defenselessness ? Would he forbid our Americans 
to follow their pursuits at sea ? 

Wlien our difficulties with Great Britain and France over the 
seizing of American ships and the cargoes arose, President Adams 
and Ueneral Washington organized armies, built navies, and made 
every preparation for expected conflict. 

We fought the War of 1812 to free the seas. Ever since that date 
we have insisted that they were highways of commerce for the 
citizens and subjects of every nation, great or small, and to-day the 
greatest war of history is being fought under the pretense of freeing 
the seas. It ought to be no offense either against humanity or 
civilization now for us to insist upon the freedom for which we 
fought in 1812, and for which the nations of the Old World claim to 
be contending. 

And now, if George Washington was willing to go to the expense of 
organizing armies and building navies and talve command thereof 
at the call of his country in order to protect our merchantmen from 
capture and our seamen from impressment into a foreign service, 
are men justified in criticizing the present Chief Executive because 
he M^arned the central powers that tliey would be held responsible 
if in violation of international law and the rights of humanity they 
should sink merchantmen and passenger vessels without warning 
and without providing for the safety of passengers and crew ? True, 
we have had many controversies with both Great Britain and Germany 
growing out of their aggressions against our commerce. We have 
realized the giant struggle that has been going on. We have entered 
vigorous protests. Many of these difficulties have been amicably 
adjusted. Others are in process of adjustment. 

1 am glad that in this world cataclysm our Chief Executive has 
been very patient, particularly when dealing with situations that 
affect property only. All such losses can be compensated by dam- 
ages. But when any power, no matter how great or small, and no 
matter which one it may be, in violation of every right upon the 
high seas, permits its submarines to sink a Lusitania or a Sussex 
without giving any warning, and without providing for the safety of 

Sassengers or crew, I am glad to know that the great American 
ation, speaking through a great American President, said to them, 
"You shall ])e held 'to strict accountability' for your acts." 

After this clear statement by the President, it was with a deep 
sense of relief the American people learned that the German Govern- 
ment indicated that it was prepared "to do its utmost to confine 
the operations of war for the rest of its duration to the fighting forces 
of the beUigerants, thereby also insuring the freedom of the seas," 
and were further informed that the German naval forces received 
orders that "in accordance with the general principles of visit and 
search and destruction of merchant vessels recognized by interna- 



AMERICA S POSITIOlSr IN TWO WORLD WARS. 7 

tional law such vessels, both within and without the areas declared 
as naval war zone, shall not be sunk without warning and without 
saving human lives, unless these ships attempt to escape or offer 
resistance." As our people were delighted to receive this assurance, 
so they were shocked when on January .31, without any warning 
whatsoever, they were advised that in the forbidden war zones about 
Great Britain, France, and the eastern Mediterranean, all navigation, 
that of neutrals included, would be forcibly prevented after February 
1, 1917, and that "all ships met within the zone will be sunk." It 
is a matter of congratulation that the President, seeing the possible 
results of continued warfare, aroused the people and the Congress 
to begin to prepare for our defense in the event that hostilities should 
break out. 

It is also a subject of congratulation, when the notice was given 
the United States the German Government would resume its cam- 
aign of frightfulness by its submarines, not only against its ememies, 
ut neutrals as well, the President severed diplomatic relations with 
Germany, handed the German ambassador his passports, and re- 
called our own ambassador from Berlin. A decent regard for our 
national honor would not permit us to do less. All Americans with 
American blood in their veins, and inspired bv American ideals, are 
supporting and will support the President of the United States in 
his efforts thus made to defend our national honor and our national 
traditions. 

Note the parallel between conditions under Washington's and 
Adams's administrations, and now under President Wilson. Great 
Britain and France then each assumed to arrogate to itself dominion 
over the seas and seriously interfered with our commerce and im- 
pressed our seamen into their service. To-day Germany and Great 
Britain alike are again interfering with our commerce, but with 
this difference: Under the former administrations, whatever depre- 
dations were committed were without attending loss of life. The 
same is true to-day of Great Britain in whatever way she has inter- 
fered with our commerce, but Germany arbitrarily, in violation of 
our rights at sea and the privilege for which she has always con- 
tended, insists upon driving us out of certain zones, and if necessary 
to accomplish these purposes, to send to an untimely grave the pas- 
sengers and crews upon our vessels. In those days Washington and 
Adams, seeing the storm approaching, prepared for our defense. 
To-day our President, fearing that hostilities may occur, is urging 
the Nation to set its house in order. As the public men of that day 
were praying that open hostilities might be averted, so now the pub- 
lic men of our Nation are praying that we may escape the bitterness 
of war. 

As war was averted then by the vigorous stand our Government 
took, so now we hope that the firmness of our Chief Executive may give 
the German Imperial Government cause to reconsider. Its naval 
forces not only have destroyed American lives in the past, but they 
have threatened to resume and have resumed the same ruthless 
methods by which these lives were lost. No one wants war. We 
will not have it if it can be avoided. The Congress of the United 
States would not vote for war unless in their judgment it is necessary 
for the maintenance of our national honor and integrity. The 
President would not approve war unless he, too, felt that it was the 



8. America's position in two world wars. 

last resort for a free people aiul for the preservation of their self- 
respect. 

But if the time shall come when these outrages against American 
lives shall be continued, and in the judgment of those in authority, 
as well as of the public, war is necessary, I am confident that the 
people will stand as one man. 

The American people under Wilson, like the American people under 
Washington, are as peacefully disposed as the warring nations across 
the water will permit them to be, but in the defense of their rights 
as warlike as these nations may compel them to be 

America wants not only peace for herself, but peace for the world. 
Her ambition is not to excell in the arts of war but in the pursuits 
of peace. We ask no favors of any nation save the right to continue 
in friendly intercourse with them wherever they may be located. 
We demand no privileges which we are not ready to accord to other 
nations. We have aimed to hold the scales of neutrality with an even 
hand. We accord no privilege to any nation which we would not 
cheerfully grant to any other. 

The war was scarcely a few weeks old until the President, speaking 
for our great coimtry, tendered his offices to the belligerents in the 
cause of humanity. That peace might come has been the prayer of 
the people. That we might be a humble instrument in the hands of 
Providence to bring about a cessation of hostihties is our heart's 
desire. We covet neither the lands nor the possessions of any other 
nation. But while we have been eager to act as the friend of aU 
these nations, both Great Britain and Germany have not hesitated to 
interfere when military necessity from their viewpoint seemed to 
require it. 

The recent act of the President in severing diplomatic relations 
with Germany seems to have had a sobering effect upon the German 
Imperial Government, and it wiU continue to have a sobering effect 
so long as our people stand unitedly with the President. 

The best way to encourage a foe is to divide our counsels. And 
yet there are two classes of people in this countr}^ who are trying to 
make the world believe that the American people are not supporting 
the President. I refer to the pacifist, so called, and to that class of 
foreigners, very small and very loud though it is, no matter what 
their nationality, who are here enjoying our hospitality and yet con- 
tinue more foreign than they are American in their sympathies. 
This latter class has Uttle concern for that which is American, but 
are guided either by their great favoritism for one nation or their 
intense hatred for another. Both want a referendum in the event 
that the President and the Congress should be of the opinion that the 
honor and the safety of our people require us to go to war in defense of 
American life and American property. 

Of course I assume that when these gentlemen urge a referendum 
they have enough regard for American life and American institutions 
to make some arrangement with the enemy, whoever it may be, to 
refrain from shooting until the result of the referendum is known. 
I imagine that I can sec these advocates of a referendum, if the 
enemy's fleets should be approaching, hoisting a white flag and cry- 
ing out, "Hold! Don't shoot! Our vote on the referendum is not 
yet taken." 



AMEEICA S POSITION IN TWO WORLD WARS. 9 

If there were a fire these same men would probably call a refer- 
endum to determine whether to call out the hose cart. If there were 
a riot on the street they would again probably ask for a referendum 
in order to deteraaine whether to blow the police whistle. 

I do not question the motives of the extreme pacifists. I only 
question their judgment. They do not want war. No true American 
from Washington to Wilson ever wanted war. But, on the other 
hand, no true American is afraid of war if it becomes necessary for 
the protection of our people. 

The pacifists claim they are true Americans, and most of them are, 
but let me say to them that, in the event of war, by the course of their 
conduct they will prove the best friends any foe of our country could 
have and a source of embarrassment to the American cause. 

In every crisis of this country there have been well-meaning men, 
if you please, who have hampered the Government at every turn. 
George Washington had his tories, Abraham Lincoln had his copper- 
heads, and Woodrow Wilson — well, he has the pacifists and some 
foreigners. 

I do not believe there is a man in either branch of Congress who 
would approach a declaration of war without the gravest concern, I 
do not beUeve he would vote for war unless he were convinced that 
our national honor and safety required it and that he had the support 
of a large majority of his constituency back home. 

The destinies of our country have been safe in the hands of our 
Presidents and the Congresses in the past, and they will continue to be 
safe in the future. They were elected by the people, are representa- 
tive of the people, and will not act in a grave matter such as war 
contrary to the wishes of the people, but in accordance with their 
wishes, whether the result be peace or war. 

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